Strategy

Sunnyvale, Calif. – The marketing head of a major Internet company has heard the siren call of Hollywood. Kathy Savitt, chief marketing officer of Yahoo, is joining Burbank, California-based movie and TV production studio STX Entertainment in October as president of digital business.

Savitt, who previously served as VP of communications and Amazon.com and chief marketing officer at American Eagle Outfitters, and also founded now defunct social commerce site Lockerz, had been in charge of marketing at Yahoo for three years.

New York -- Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, was named “Retailer of the Year” at the World Retail Awards gala dinner in Rome, Italy.

Grapevine, Texas -- GameStop, which has long been known as an innovative company, has become one of the first major retailers to accept Google's new mobile payment system.

Corte Madera, Calif. – Restoration Hardware Holdings Inc., which is set to launch two businesses in its third quarter, had generally rewarding second quarter of fiscal 2015.

Net income rose 9% to $29.93 million from $27.25 million the same period a year earlier, with costs and expenses not growing at the same rate as sales.

Bentonville, Ark. – Five Walmart stores in central Florida are reportedly getting ready to serve the needs of hungry customers.

Washington, D.C. - The National Retail Federation (NRF) is not backing down from its opposition to an expanded definition of “joint employer.”

The NRF is publicly asking Congress to pass legislation introduced this week that would reverse a recent National Labor Relations Board ruling that significantly broadens the definition of a joint employer.

According to the NRF, the move would unfairly make companies that work with franchise locations or subcontractors responsible for actions they do not control.

Indianapolis – Retail real estate firm Simon has announced the location for its Tulsa Premium Outlets.

The project will be built in the city of Jenks, Oklahoma. The first phase of the development will be approximately 325,000 sq. ft. and feature 80 to 90 stores. Construction in Jenks is scheduled to start in spring 2016 with an opening in summer 2017.

Cincinnati -- For almost 12 years, Kroger has reported same-store sales growth every quarter. And they did it again Friday.

The supermarket giant reported net earnings of $433 million, or $0.44 per diluted share, and identical supermarket sales growth, without fuel, of 5.3% in the second quarter of fiscal 2015.
 

New York -- As Target Corp. continues its transformation under CEO Brian Cornell, news came out that the retailer is not renewing its contract with licensed apparel company Cherokee.

Dependent on Target for 43% of its revenue, Cherokee Global Brand saw its market value obliterated after it disclosed Target would not renew the decades-old relationship.

Huntington Beach, Calif. -- Quiksilver Inc. has got the OK on financing and on some store closures.

Quiksilver Inc. has received preliminary approval from bankruptcy court for a $175 million bankruptcy financing package. The surf apparel chain filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sept. 9.